All week, we have read and heard comments that the media should not give importance to the conspiratorial remarks of politician Maxime Bernier, according to whom it is “green terrorists” who are behind the forest fires ravaging Quebec. .
However, the answer to this question seems obvious. It concerns what lies at the very heart of the profession of journalism: reporting the facts and providing information.
But when an irresponsible politician like Mr. Bernier, who very nearly became leader of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2017, makes false statements, it is precisely the duty of information workers to reframe them.
- Listen to the chronicle of Karine Gagnon, political columnist at the JDM and JDQ and also assistant director of information at the Journal de Québec at the microphone of Benoit Dutrizac via QUB-radio :
Scientific consensus
There is scientific consensus on the links between the frequency and intensity of forest fires and climate change. Of course, there are still many answers to be obtained, but the facts are there, and their distortion, as Maxime Bernier does, leads to considerable societal costs.
Major impacts
Earlier this year, a report by the Council of Canadian Academies (CAC), which brings together the most eminent experts in their field, analyzed misinformation and disinformation in times of pandemic, based on evidence.
These experts estimated that 2.35 million Canadians delayed or refused vaccination, between March and November 2021, because they believed a hoax or exaggeration.
This resulted in a 35% increase in deaths, 28% in hospitalizations and 22% in infections, in addition to a 40% increase in hospital costs.
- Don’t miss the chronicle of Karine Gagnon, political columnist at the JDM and JDQ and also assistant director of information at the Journal de Québec at the microphone of Benoit Dutrizac via QUB-radio :
The report also highlights the difficulty of addressing unprecedented collective challenges, such as climate change and environmental degradation, when misinformation hijacks debate.
In other words, it harms research, decision-making and action. It is all the more serious when a politician uses it to try to consolidate and broaden his base.